Tag: coyote

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Portrait of a Coyote

A coyote contemplates its next move.
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

I like head shots of animals, but I don’t have many because the animals are usually too far away and getting closer isn’t feasible.  I spotted this coyote when it was hunting rodents about 50 to 75 yards from the road.  I pulled over and started photographing it as it was “mousing.”  I stayed inside my vehicle and it seemed oblivious of me.  I knew that it was likely to get closer because of the contour of the land.  It’s other choice was to go down a steep ravine and come up the other side.  It kept working its way toward me.  It came fairly close and then stopped to scratch itself.  That’s when I tripped the shutter.

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Injured Coyote

An injured coyote hunts on the Tomales Point Peninsula.
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

I saw this coyote last Thursday in the Pierce Point area of Point Reyes National Seashore.  Saturday he was a bit south of there.  Yesterday he was at the south end of the Tomales Point Peninsula.  I know it’s the same coyote because there is something wrong with his right foreleg at what would be the “wrist” for a human.  It doesn’t seem to handicap him at a walking pace, but when he runs it’s obvious and slows him down.   It doesn’t handicap him in feeding though from what I can see.  I watched him hunt rodents last Thursday and he was having no trouble catching them.  When I saw him yesterday he was feeding on something larger than a rodent.

He should have stayed around Pierce Point Ranch a little longer.  Yesterday I saw a fairly fresh elk carcass there.  Some turkey vultures had found it, but it didn’t look like any other scavengers had fed on it.

It also looks like there is some fur missing on this coyote’s back.

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A Pair of Coyotes

these two coyotes seem to be mates.
A mated pair?

In my last post regarding a bobcat I mentioned I saw a pair of coyotes.  It was the first time I’d seen a pair of coyotes in Point Reyes National Seashore.  I saw them again yesterday.  I think they are a mated pair.  The one on the right is very light colored, almost white.  Assuming I’m right that they are a mated pair, I assume the light one is the female based on its smaller size.  It is mating season, so I assume they will produce a litter of pups this spring.  I would love to photograph the pups.

At first I was reluctant to post this photo.  It’s not a very good photograph.  However, I decided to post it because it is mating season and because of the unusually light color of the one I think is the female.

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Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

A bobcat rests in a field.
Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore

A bobcat takes a rest in a field.  I’ve been seeing a lot of bobcats and coyotes at Point Reyes lately.  I saw a bobcat and three coyotes last Friday.  I saw this guy the previous visit.  Don’t recall what else I saw that day, but I have photos of a coyote from then.  I often see things, but don’t get a chance to photograph the animal so what I’ve photographed isn’t a good record of what I saw on any given day.  When I started going out to Point Reyes somewhat regularly beginning last summer I didn’t see as many bobcats or coyotes as I’m seeing now.  I don’t know if it’s luck lately or that I’m getting better at spotting them.  Probably both, but with emphasis on the luck side of the equation.

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Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

A coyote looks back before retreating.
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is one of the coyotes I’ve seen recently out at Point Reyes.  Note the numerous gopher holes.

Point Reyes seems to have a healthy population of coyotes and bobcats.  The same can be said throughout Marin County thanks to the efforts of Camilla Fox.  In the late 1990s Camilla, with the help of other concerned citizens, convinced the County of Marin to stop the indiscriminate trapping and poisoning of coyotes to protect sheep.  Not only was the trapping and poisoning inhumane, but it killed more badgers, bobcats and foxes than it did the highly intelligent coyotes.  Now the County has a non-lethal coyote control program that relies on guard dogs, llamas and electrified fencing to protect sheep.  The program has been an unqualified success.  Camilla now heads up an organization called Project Coyote which fights the senseless trapping and poisoning of coyotes throughout the United States and Canada as well as other inhumane practices like coyote and fox penning where a coyote or fox is locked in an escape-proof enclosure and then dogs are released to kill it.   It seems a bit like dog fighting to me with one side not having a fair chance.  Some people actually enjoy doing this.  To learn more about Project Coyote click here.